


Life with Derek and Cora

by DarkJediQueen



Series: Just Write Trope Bingo 2020 [11]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Courtship, First Time, Just Write Trope Bingo 2020, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:02:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26282365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: Derek is more than happy to have Cora and Stiles with him in San Francisco. With them close again, he can start his courtship of Stiles.
Relationships: Stiles Stilinski & Cora Hale, Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale
Series: Just Write Trope Bingo 2020 [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1803853
Comments: 30
Kudos: 422
Collections: Just Write! Trope Bingo





	Life with Derek and Cora

**Author's Note:**

> **Year** : Fall 2012  
>  **Spoilers** : Everything  
>  **Notes** : This is a completed series. There will be no more written in the universe. Prompts come from the Just Write Discord Server's 2020 Trope Bingo challenge. For the prompt: Courtship  
>  **Beta** : Grammarly

Stiles heard the thump that told him that Derek had literally just rolled out of bed. He groaned. It was the weekend, but Derek still insisted on getting up early. Stiles was enjoying his summer before college started. Stiles grabbed his pillow and wrapped it around his head. Cora was going to be getting up as well, and then Stiles would get no more sleep. He got more than enough sleep, he went to bed at the same time as the other two, but he liked to bitch. If he didn't, they would think something was wrong with him.

When ten minutes had passed, and Stiles felt his phone vibrating in the bed, he got up. It was his alarm. The first went off just about when Derek's did, and Stiles would unplug it and drop it into the bed. Then when the second went off, he would actually get up. He laughed as he saw that Spencer had already texted him. The Hales all got up early as hell, but at least some of them slept in. Spencer was crowing about being able to stay in bed since his siblings weren't there to drag him out. Stiles had been one of the ones to drag Spencer out of bed over and over again. They all took turns really, and it had been just him and Cora for the last few years. He was going to be living the life until he went to college. Stiles had the second biggest room as if Spencer followed them; he could bunk down with Stiles. Derek needed to have a room to himself with residency and fellowship that he would be doing here in San Fran if he got his first picks.

They were all going to be staying in San Fran through Spencer's end of Junior year as that was when Derek finished his residency and then his fellowship. Then Spencer would have his Senior year of college alone. It would also match up with Cora getting out of law school and then taking the bar before taking a place at her father's firm. Stiles was still bouncing a lot on what he wanted to do. He had a year where he was getting the basis of a lot of things out before he made his decision. His dream for a long time had been to follow his father in law enforcement, and then it had changed to the FBI, but Stiles wanted to stay in Beacon Hills, for at least sticking around the Hales, but he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. Peter said his job would come to him when he let it just come to him. Stiles still thought he was smoking crack when he said that. He grinned as he flipped Spencer off before getting ready for the day. He had showered the night before after Derek had made him do exercise. The building they were in a gym and while it didn't suck. The weather wasn't a reason he could not work out. He had put on a lot of muscle since he had been hanging out with the Hales over the years. They were all active and fit.

"Don't make me come in there," Cora yelled before she banged on his door. Stiles flipped off the door and just ignored her snort because she couldn't see him, but she had been around him enough that she knew what he did.

Stiles groaned as he got up. Cora had started to call him her brother, and Stiles wasn't sure how he felt about it. He loved her like Stiles was sure that siblings loved each other, but Derek was something else. He didn't like him or love him like he did Cora and Spencer. It was something different. It was different from how he felt about Peter, Talia, and Greg, and even Lydia. Despite that crush dying in a horrible crash after Derek had started to pay attention to him.

What Stiles felt for Derek felt like nothing he had ever felt before, and he wasn't sure that it was just a crush anymore. He had been living with him for just about a month. The end of June had seen the caravan that had moved Stiles and Cora to San Francisco. It had been good being here. Derek was stern with them, but neither Cora nor Stiles were going out and finding wild nightlife unless one considered the bit of forest free reign for wolves and other shifters. The Alpha of the area had it set aside for anyone who was not in a Pack or were visiting the area while in college. No one had rights over it so everyone could enjoy it. It was really nice, and it had been a place of solace for Cora as she got used to living away from her parents. Stiles had been going with her when she needed and sometimes Derek.

"Hungry?" Derek asked when Stiles finally slipped out of his room. He was tugging a plaid shirt. Stiles looked at Derek to see that he was looking at him. 

"Ummm." Stiles looked at Cora, who was inhaling her daily three bowls of cereal. Breakfast was pretty much toaster items and cereal. Sometimes they went out but Cora already eating so she wouldn't want to go with them. 

"Just you and me," Derek said.

Stiles shrugged. He wouldn't mind getting out and about a little bit.

"We can walk. There is a good place for breakfast we've not been yet."

"Holding out on me?" Stiles asked.

"Nah, it's a place that's full of two people tables. There are a few one-person ones as well."

"What do families do?" Stiles asked.

"They don't go there. It's supposed to be for not families. Sometimes a parent will bring a single kid, but that's pretty rare."

Cora snorted. Stiles turned to look at her for a few seconds before he looked at Derek. "It's this outfit, okay?"

"Yeah. There is no dress code or anything like that. It's just a place where those who want to be alone can go."

"No one you like it, given you've been alone all this time. Also kind of stops people from hitting on you, doesn't it?" Cora asked.

"It does."

Stiles was so confused. There were times that Stiles was pretty sure that there was some secret about Derek that was being kept from him, and it was times like this that made him think it even harder. He shook his head to clear it before heading to his bedroom to grab his wallet and sunglasses. He debated changing his shirt and just going in a love sleeved shirt, but he liked his layers. He could take the plaid off if he wanted to later. It wasn't all that hard to wrap it around his waist and let it hang. He looked at his collection of hats that were on a pegboard on the wall. There was a large collection of them from random places that the Hales had gone and brought one back to him if it was for work and the like. Others were ones he had picked up when going on vacation with them. There would be no vacation like that for them this year. Well, Greg, Talia, Peter, and Spencer were going to DC, and Laura was with her husband in New York. The surprise wedding hadn't shocked any of the Hales, and while their parents were there, they had come to Beacon Hills for a small mating ceremony in the Preserve around a pretty big tree. Stiles had watched it, and it had seemed beautiful to him. Something about it made Stiles feel like it was more romantic than a normal human wedding. In five years, Laura and her husband Mark were set to come home, and Laura could start training full time to take over for her mother when it was time for Talia to want to step down as Alpha. 

That had made June rush by with them visiting for two weeks as their honeymoon. Stiles had felt a little weird about being there. 

Stiles was stepping out of his bedroom when his cell phone rang. He looked down and saw it was his father. He swallowed and stepped back into his room and sat down on the bed. He had been expecting this for all of July, possibly as early as the middle of June. He wasn't sure what he felt about it take so long but also knew that he wasn't all that shocked. 

"Hey, Dad," Stiles said when he answered the phone.

"Stiles, your room...it's pretty much empty. Why would you pack up everything to college already?" Noah sounded very confused. 

Stiles rubbed at his face. He debated shutting the door to the room, but it wasn't like Derek and Cora weren't already listening, and the door was going to do jack shit on that front.

"It's not. I've got some stuff here, but the apartment was already furnished that Cora and I moved into, so I didn't need to bring the bed and stuff. All of my other clothes and my books are in my room at the Hales'." Stiles had wanted to not have this where his father could give him the frown on his face when he figured out that Stiles hadn't even factored anything in for him on moments. Stiles wasn't sure that he could take it without just yelling. He loved his father, the man he used to be before the death of Claudia had broken him into a lot of pieces, and there were none left for Stiles.

"Why are they at the Hales?"

"Dad, I left my graduation invitation on your desk at work. It was also on the fridge at home. I put it into your calendar on your phone, and you still missed it. You didn't realize that I was a senior until Prom. I've pretty much lived with the Hales since I was twelve. I turned eighteen, waited until I was done with high school, and moved out."

"You moved out and didn't tell me?" Noah asked.

"Dad, you've not cared about me in a long time. You forgot my sixteenth birthday. You've forgotten all of my birthdays. What the hell was I supposed to do about that? The last time you cared was when you bought the Mets tickets for my birthday, but by the time it was game time, you scheduled yourself to work when you didn't need to. Wilcox and Roberts both told me that. It's like I became something that you didn't love anymore. I've not felt loved by you in a very long time. I'll let you know how I'm doing in school and such, and I'm sure that Talia, Greg, or Peter will keep you informed as well, but you checked out so long ago that I can't even remember the last time I felt you put me anywhere in your top five. You are the Sheriff, I understood not coming first, but I haven't factored into anything having to do with your life in a long time." 

"Son." 

"Bye Dad," Stiles said, and he hung up. He looked up to see Derek and Cora right there. He held up a finger and dialed a new number.

"Beacon County Sheriff's Department, Deputy Parrish speaking," Parrish answered. 

"Hey, Parrish. It's Stiles. Is dad at work?"

"Yeah let me-"

"No! I just wanted to check. Is Roberts or Wilcox there?"

"Sure. Roberts is."

"Good, can you transfer me?" Stiles asked.

"Is something wrong? You don't sound like yourself at all."

"Yeah, I'm just tired. Stayed out late, enjoying San Francisco."

"I'm glad you are enjoying your time there."

Stiles hummed, and then he heard the music while he was being transferred. 

"What can I do for you?" Roberts asked. 

No use of his name, so that meant that he didn't want Stiles' father to know. He had the desk closest to Noah's office.

"Dad just called me. Did you hear?"

"No, he was outside. He came inside, looking a little gutted. Why?"

"He realized that I moved my shit out of the house. Just make sure he doesn't go back into the bottle. I can't...I can't be there to make sure that he doesn't anymore. Talk with Wilcox and figure out what needs to happen with that."

"He's got lunch plans with-" Roberts stopped, and he sighed. That meant he hadn't meant to say anything about that. "His girlfriend and her son today."

"Ah, I see. How long on that?" Stiles asked.

"I'm sorry, I just...you've been so happy. We've not told anyone else. Though I have no clue who here has talked about the Sheriff having a girlfriend."

"Roberts."

"Six months." 

Stiles hung up the phone. He slipped down off of the bed and let his head drop to his knees. He felt one of the two Hales settle in at his side and then the other on the other side. They didn't say anything but let Stiles get his emotions under control. Cora especially had learned to let him digest before making him talk. He didn't like it, but he would talk when he was ready. He groaned and dropped his head back to the bed. He laughed, which he figured would make them both think that he had finally cracked. 

"He's got a lot of fucking nerve. He's upset about me moving out without telling him, but he's been dating Melissa McCall since March, and he's never told me."

"I'm shocked that Scott's not come to you happy as fuck about it. I know that you both talked about it at one point. That you would have wanted him to be happy, even if it wasn't with your mother. That he didn't need to be alone the rest of his life," Derek said.

"Yeah, it's a kick in the balls that he just can't even tell me shit like that, but I'm supposed to tell him everything." Stiles picked up his phone, not even noticing that he had dropped it in the first place. He held the phone out and found the number for Melissa. He didn't want to ruin anything but given the ball that Stiles had dropped, but she needed to know. She knew about him and his drinking. She had helped him get sober after the deputies had pushed him to seek help. He pressed her number and leaned into Derek.

"Hey, Stiles!" Melissa said. She sounded pleased, and Stiles wasn't sure that he wanted to ruin her mood. "Scott was talking to me about having you come and help him with a few things before you left for college."

Stiles wanted to snort, but he kept that to himself. Scott had been put on a new inhaler, and it made sports easier. He hadn't tried to hang out with Stiles all the much since he had joined the lacrosse team ninth grade year. Stiles wasn't upset, they grew apart. Hell, they had grown apart when Scott had come from his father's that one summer and didn't like to share Stiles with the Hales.

"Yeah, that's gonna be hard. I'm in San Francisco already. I called about something else, though."

"Your father didn't say anything about you leaving already," Melissa said.

"He didn't know that I was a senior until I was stopped at one of the sober checks at my Senior Prom. He missed my graduation, Melissa. He just noticed today that my stuff is gone from the house. Like my bedroom looks like a guest room, and I left the door open when I moved it out that weekend after my last day of school."

"Stiles, honey, what?" Melissa asked.

"He's not participated in anything to do with me in a while. Missed a lot of birthdays and everything you know."

"Oh, really?" Something in her tone made Stiles know that she had only heard his father's side, and he would love to hear that. 

"Yeah, I found out today that he's even dating you."

There was silence, and Melissa cleared her throat, but there was a few sounds like she was moving around. 

"Stiles, tell me that isn't true," Melissa demanded.

"I don't...don't leave him. Please. Please don't do that." Stiles felt himself start to cry, and his phone was taken from his hands gently. He leaned more into Derek.

"Melissa McCall?" Derek asked.

"Who is this?" Melissa demanded. 

Stiles looked up to see that Derek had the phone on speaker.

"It's Derek Hale, Ma'am. Stiles lives with my sister and me in San Francisco."

"I remember you. Tell me what Stiles said isn't true."

"I can't, Ma'am, but I do have to plead for you to not just leave the Sheriff. Stiles couldn't take talking to him anymore and hung up on him. He's at work, and the deputies are looking out for him. Stiles has pretty much been living with my parents since he was thirteen. That summer, he was living in the Preserve during the day when he was sick of being at home alone. His father didn't take him to the baseball game that he had purchased tickets for that spring for his birthday when it happened that summer. My mother asked if my family could take him, and the Sheriff allowed that. From what we found from a few deputies that we were close to and told Stiles, his father arranged for himself to work that weekend of the game when he didn't need to. My family has been picking up the pieces that the Sheriff has left behind of Stiles. Including forgetting his birthdays and that he was even a senior in high school."

"I...is he listening?"

"Yes, Ma'am, but I think at this point, he's earned hearing whatever you have to say to understand why his father left him behind and didn't even notice that he had moved out for two months." 

"He's...been around here a lot over the last two maybe three years. I always asked where Stiles was, and I heard he was studying. I wasn't sure about that, but I just never questioned it. I knew from Scott that Stiles had different and new friends and that Stiles didn't like hanging out with him anymore."

Stiles made a noise, and Cora glomped into his back and held him tightly. 

"We can discuss that later."

"What do you mean?" Melissa asked.

"Well, Stiles would tell us when he had plans with Scott, and then he would leave, but I guess around the time of Freshman year and his new medication, he hung out with the lacrosse team more than Stiles. Several times in the second half of freshman year, Stiles would leave on his bike, or one of the adults would take him to his house or even drop him at Scott's only to find him not home. When Stiles would call Scott, and he was hanging out with the team. Stiles would call someone to pick him up. After a while, Scott stopped answering the phone at all when he had made plans with Stiles and broke them. Then he just stopped making plans with Stiles."

"I knew he was hanging out with others, but Scott told me that Stiles refused to hang out with them."

"Like Jackson, who hated Stiles?" Derek asked.

"That is very true." Melissa sounded like she understood everything now. "Stiles, you know that I treated you just like Scott. I just assumed you both grew apart. I never hated you, I never wanted this for you. Your father had been around a lot. He's been to every single game of Scott's unless he had to work, and now that I think on things, he's been at a lot more than he should have been. I can't know if he moved things around to make sure that he was off for than many."

"It's okay," Stiles said. He turned his head to bury it in Derek's chest again. 

"No, it's not. I just assumed that since you didn't do sports, he was going because you guys were friends, and Scott knew that I couldn't make as many as I would like. You were in pain, and it seems that no one but the Hales noticed."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not," Derek said.

"We would have done something, but Stiles never wanted us to, and we didn't want to make things hard for our parents who all have to kind of work with the Sheriff every once in a while." 

"I can see that. Also, none of the Hales have ever seemed that vindictive. Peter is such a nice man." 

Stiles buried his laugh by pressing harder into Derek's check. Derek's free hand came up to his head and started to rub there. He enjoyed the feel of Derek's hand on his head. Even if he was upset. He had gotten long past the point where anything that his father did pissed him off. Stiles knew that his father's father was a piece of shit. It wasn't until after he had used Stiles enough that no one would stop calling him it that he figured out that his grandfather was a piece of shit. He had nothing to teach him how to be a good father. That was the excuse, but there were plenty of things that, if he cared, would have been better than what he had done. Stiles hoped there was a day when his father wasn't able to make him feel anything because sometimes he thought that even anger was better than this. Better than feeling like he wasn't even enough for his father. 

"Mom would hate him for this," Stiles whispered. He got up, jerking out of Derek's hold, and he rushed to the bathroom to throw up. He didn't heard Derek say anything, but then his hand was there on his back. Stiles couldn't hear the phone, so he assumed that Derek either hung up on her or told her what was going on.

Stiles wasn't sure how long it was before the dry heaves stopped, but finally, he slumped down to rest on the side of the bathtub in his bathroom. 

"Cora's still on the phone with Melissa. She's promised to not break up with your father. She's gonna talk to him."

"I don't want to talk to him," Stiles said.

"No. No." Derek pulled Stiles close to him and held him tightly. "You don't have to. We can make sure that he knows that. Peter will gladly go and make sure he knows he's not to contact you unless you contact him first."

Stiles nodded and let his body rest on Derek's.

"Can we do the breakfast thing tomorrow?" 

"Sure. Cora's got plans, but I'm thinking cuddling on the couch and watching horrible movies and ordering in take out for all three meals."

"Yeah, that sounds really, really good."

Derek hummed and just started to rock them back and forth a little. Stiles' mouth tasted like shit, but he really didn't want to get up right now. This was better than anything else right now.

* * *

Stiles laughed as Derek made a face at him. He tossed the bite of cantaloupe at him, and Derek just grinned and picked it up before popping it into his mouth.

The day was warm, but in the shade in the park closest to their apartment felt pretty damned good. He looked down at his food and noticed that the piece he had thrown was his last. This was good because Derek had packed too much good food, and Stiles hadn't been able to stop until his plate was empty. 

"This was great," Stiles said as he slipped his plate in the basket so that it wouldn't blow away, and then he laid down. It was late October, and Derek was neck-deep in school again for his third year in med school. Stiles was proud of him, and he was glad that Derek made time for Stiles and for Cora in his daily life. He didn't take his stress out on them, but part of that was they left him alone if his bedroom room was shut. 

"I'm glad." Derek laid down beside Stiles when he had packed everything but their drinks up. 

Stiles turned his head to look at him and smiled when he saw the soft look on Derek's face. "What else did you want to do today?"

"I thought we could walk the streets and see about finding presents for Christmas. Schools just going to get worse for both of us, so that will be a good thing to get a jump on." 

"Yeah." Stiles thought about the money he had been saving up to get everyone something really good. He did some tutoring for money that he could spend on anything he wanted without feeling guilty about saving it. It wasn't a lot, but Stiles had added it to his fun money. Some of that fun was going to be added to what he had allotted to get presents for Christmas. Cora's was already ordered while Derek was hard as hell to shop for. He hoped that something sparked on the trip around the blocks near where they were. 

It was nearly full dark by the time that Stiles found something that he thought that Derek would like. He was getting them both hot chocolates from the shop across the street, so Stiles slipped inside and looked at the collection. It was a set of glasses, but they were made with just plain glass. Derek had taken to wearing glasses during school. The first time that Stiles had seen him use it so that he wouldn't have to do something because he "couldn't" see had been great. 

Stiles loved the whole set, and it was only sold as a whole set. There were two different Pride flags ones, and Stiles really liked that. He just hoped that Derek would as well. He walked over to the counter where a man was writing something down on a sheet of paper. He looked up as soon as Stiles got close. 

"How can I help you?" the man asked.

"Your set of glasses. Can I buy them, and have you hold them until I can come and get them?"

"Sure thing. Got someone with you that you don't want them to see it?" the man asked.

"Yeah." Stiles held out his card, and the man ran the transaction. 

When it was done, Stiles got the receipt, and the man grinned at him and pointed at the door. Stiles turned around and saw that Derek was walking in. Stiles moved to where a stand was and looked at things on it when Derek came inside. He walked right over to him and got close, looking over his shoulder. 

"See anything?"

"I bet Laura would love these for winter in New York," Stiles said as he brushed his fingers over a set of scarves. They were colorful, and a few were so garish that they were horrible. 

"She would. We get them, and it can be from both of us."

"Is that how it's going to be for everything?" Stiles asked. 

"Well, yes." 

Stiles laughed and pushed into Derek, and he pushed back. Stiles saw the man out of the corner of his eye grab the case with the glasses and cart it away. Stiles was happy with what he got. He could sneak over after class on Monday before Derek got out and get then and take them home. He would never know until after Stiles got it wrapped, and he opened it up. 

"Let's go eat dinner," Stiles said after Derek had bought the set of scarves for Laura and a sedated set for Talia. The man smirked the entire time. 

"Where do you wanna go?" Derek asked.

"Why don't we just wander back to the car and drop of the newest presents and then see what looks good?" Stiles said. 

Derek nodded his head. 

It didn't take long to drop off everything, and then they were headed down the street. The lights came on, and everything looked so much prettier. The air wasn't too chilly, yet so Stiles was able to not freeze. Despite living in California his entire life, he got chilled so easily. He kind of loved living with the Hales, they were always so fucking warm that it felt good. 

"Oh, this looks good," Stiles said as they passed by a place that was kind of dark on the outside, but there were the sounds of a happy place inside. The smell made Stiles' stomach growl. 

Derek opened the door, and Stiles walked inside, happy that Derek was at his back as he stepped into a place that looked more like date night territory than anything else. Stiles stopped, and Derek just pressed against his back and pushed him in a little bit. 

"Table for two," Derek said.

"Derek," Stiles hissed. 

"Right this way," the hostess said. She showed them over to a table and left when with menus. 

"What's wrong?" Derek asked.

"This is like date night place!" Stiles said. 

"And?" Derek asked.

Stiles sat down and looked at Derek as he sat down as well. 

"You don't mind?" Stiles asked.

"Stiles, I've been asking you out on dates for months. When I came home at the beginning of June, and we went driving in Roscoe was the first time. Peter told me I would need to be more open, but it wasn't until right now that I really realized that you were that unknowing about my intentions. I assumed you've read a few things over the years."

"About what?"

"Peter teasing me about my crush."

"Yes, I had heard him."

"That was you."

Stiles shook his head, but even as he did, he knew that Derek wasn't lying. He knew that the family had teased Derek a lot about it, but he assumed that it was someone teasing him about someone that he was at school with.

"I know that Peter gave you books to learn everything so that you would stop looking up shit on the Internet. What do you remember about Mates?" Derek leaned back as a waiter came over to them. 

Stiles looked at him and then at Derek.

"This is a supernatural friendly place. That's why it's dark outside. There are spells put over to push humans who are not in the know away. So we are free to talk." Derek ordered drinks for both of them. 

"Did you direct us here?" Stiles asked as the waiter stepped away from the table. 

"A little. I knew you would like the food here, but I didn't want to be horrible and pushy about it, so you just followed me. But you are distracting me. Mates."

"Most supernaturals have them. Shifters have a higher chance of meeting since their sense of smell draws them to them. Mates are sexual unless both sides are on the asexual spectrum, which I feel very left out on knowing that werewolves figured that out long before the rest of the humans."

"Yes, Peter called me in the middle of your rant and let me listen to you. I found it adorable."

"How long have you known?"

"Since the first time I came across your scent in the Preserve when you were hiding out there that one summer."

"When were you going to tell me?" Stiles asked.

"You've grown up a lot. You still have issues, but they are not nearly as bad as they could be. You've let go of your father, and you've let go of your past. That was always the goal. Before this, you wouldn't have believed that I wanted you. I've known about your crush but have never done anything about it. I would have brought it up before if you were more settled."

"I was kind of mad at your mom, making me talk to Peter a lot over time. He's not exactly qualified, but it helped that he knew me and knew when to stop. I needed that."

"It was Dad, but Mom was more than willing to be the bad cop in that one. It was Dad that knew what you needed. He took a psychology degree to help him learn how to read the juries and even his clients and such. It wasn't the best thing for him when he was getting it. He had a lot of people making fun of him. It was not enough to stop him, though."

"Good."

Stiles looked down at the menu while Derek looked around. Stiles assumed that Derek knew exactly what he wanted. Stiles took his time looking at each item and then the side dishes. A lot of them looked like something he would want. It was pasta heavy dishes, but Stiles was okay with that. He laughed as Derek looked at him and blushed. 

"Ready to order?" the waiter asked as he came back. 

"Yes," Stiles said. He grinned at Derek. "Derek's going to order for me."

Derek laughed as he started to spout off what Stiles wanted and then his. The waiter smiled and took the menus. Another waiter came over with their drinks. 

"How did I do?" Derek asked.

"Good. It was the most appetizing thing on the menu."

"I remember what you said once when you were fifteen. You didn't know that I was on the phone with Uncle Peter. You were talking about how you would never marry someone that couldn't order the best dish for you at a new place."

"But this place isn't new to you."

"Actually, it is. They do different dishes each month. They never do the same dishes more than once a year. It's part of why I pulled you toward here. I've been saving this place for this."

"They all knew?" Stiles asked.

"The family? Yes. However, and you can ask Mom or Peter, they would have taken you in any way. It just meant that they didn't let the fear of your father stop them. You'd have been Cora and Spencer's friend, and I would have been the older brother."

"That's why you stayed slightly apart until I was older. You were there, but you didn't get too close."

"Yes."

"The food...every single meal we have eaten together you've given me all of my food. The presents from you are always last but the best."

"Roscoe was mainly from me. I had a close friend of mine working on it. It was my idea, and Peter just made sure that it happened."

"Yeah, Dad was so shocked it was still in good condition. He's never questioned anything."

"Well, he doesn't question a lot."

"Sorry for mentioning him." Stiles looked down and unrolled his silverware and spread everything out on the table before laying the napkin over his lap. 

"You never have to be, Stiles."

Stiles looked up at Derek. 

"You never have to worry. I've seen first hand how you have flourished under my family's love. You run with wolves Stiles, and you don't fear that. You never stop trying to understand the new world you live in. There are wolves that stop. Your father has been a big part of your life for a long time, and he's always going to be your father. If he gets hurt, you know that you are going to make sure that he's okay. I will never be upset talking about him. Unless it's during sex. That I will have a big issue with." Derek smiled as he said it, though, and Stiles relaxed in his chair. 

"So, what do you have going on this week?" Stiles asked.

"A few tests but nothing that I am not ready for. It's pretty easy this week, really. I do have a study group coming over on Thursdays. I thought if you and Cora didn't want to be there, you could head out to Dave and Busters or something like that."

"Eh, might just hang in my room. Hockey game on that night. I can easily while away the hours watching it."

"Or that. Cora can do whatever she wants."

"I've turned her onto hockey. She mainly just listens while doing other things until a fight happens. She nearly punched Peter last season when she jumped up because someone got ejected from the game for a fight. She was excited and spun around, and there was Peter's face. He caught her fist, though. He promised that if she did well this year in school, he'd get us tickets for a few weekend games for the Kings and if both of us did awesomely, he'd pay for tickets to and from wherever we wanted to for an opening game that happens on the weekend at the start of next year."

"That will be fun. What about the Mets?"

"Eh, I like seeing them when they come here. One ballpark is much the same as others." Stiles looked down at the table cloth and picked at it before looking back up at Derek. "One of the last things we did as a family before mom started to have a lot of memory issues was going to a Mets game at their home field. I just...I'm not ready for that."

"I got it." Derek reached across the table and laid his hand over Stiles. 

Stiles rotated his hand so that Derek could tangle their fingers together. It felt good to him. He laughed as Derek looked a bit put out but pulled their hands apart so their waiter could set down their salads. Stiles stuck his tongue out at Derek, and all Derek did was raise an eyebrow.

* * *

Stiles slumped back on the quad of campus and looked up into the sky. He was tired. Mentally more than anything. It was the day of his last exam, and he just wanted it over with so he could stop obsessing about everything. He just wanted to be heading home and sleep in his bed with the normal smells of family. Despite living with Derek and Cora, there weren't enough smells that Stiles was used to. He wasn't a wolf by any stretch, but he was still pulled toward familiar scents. He had lived with them long enough. 

Closing his eyes, Stiles tried to calm down so that he was freaking out anymore. He had already picked his classes for the next term, and he wanted to make sure that he got into the ones that he wanted, and he had to pass this one. He had figured out what he wanted to do with his life after meeting with his mentor that Peter had set him up with. It was a good set up, what Tarn had set up in San Francisco for a shop. It was partially a herbal supplement type store, but the other half was just for those in the know. Tarn told him that no one had anything like that in Beacon County at all. Stiles could easily get the degrees that he wanted in four years and then spend the years after graduation while Derek was finishing up his schooling, and Cora was hers, working with Tarn at his shop. He had the plans already laid out. He just had to get through this, or he was going to be fucked. 

Something soft fell on his face, and Stiles could smell Derek on it. The natural scent of him that he had gotten even more used to as dates out were regular when they could both do it, but there were also dates cuddling on the couch watching movies when they were too tired to do anything else. Stiles sat up, tugging the cloth down into his lap before he saw that it was Derek's hoodie that he wore in classes that were too cold for him, which was a few. He worked his own hoodie off since it was December, and it was too cold for him, but he was sick of being inside. Stiles jerked Derek's on and sighed as the smell helped to calm him down.

"Cora said you were stressing. I've got a little break thought maybe you would want to eat some lunch."

"Sure, where-" Stiles cut off as Derek pulled a few things out of a cooler that was packed with ice, given the sound of it falling. He watched as Derek pulled containers out from their favorite sushi place. Stiles' stomach growled at that. Derek looked up at him. "Hey, I ate breakfast, you know that, and that snack that you tucked into my bag. It's not even noon yet."

Derek laughed and pulled Stiles over to kiss him on the lips before tucking Stiles in his side. Stiles grabbed a few packets of soy sauce and then found the eel sauce that he liked. It was one of the bottles from the house. He laughed and then grabbed what he knew was his dumplings package and started to open those up to eat. They were wrapped in a heated wrap that Peter had sent them for things like this. The cooler that Derek was using had a hot compartment at the top. It was kind of nice to use as well. Stiles loved it for a picnic when they wanted one thing hot and the rest cold. He grinned when Derek held out chopsticks. 

There wasn't a lot of talking while they ate. Stiles was too hungry, and Derek liked to just sit with him. If they were out in a restaurant, they would talk but sometimes at home or out like they just enjoyed being together. 

Derek held out a bit of his California Roll to Stiles, and he ate it with a smile. Stiles liked them, but he never wanted to get them with a meal, sometimes as an appetizer, but that was it. Derek always shared at least one or two bites with him. 

"What did you get for dessert?"

"They had a sweet potato roll on special. It's got a honey and marshmallow sauce on top."

"Oh, that sounds freaking great." Stiles looked for it, but Derek booped him on the nose with his chopsticks. Stiles stuck his tongue out at him, drawing it back in quickly when Derek tried to grab his tongue with the sticks. He had done it before. 

When they were done, Derek forced Stiles to lay down with his head in Derek's lap, and he quizzed Stiles through the section that Stiles was having issues with, and he answered all but two correctly, and those two were easy for Stiles to remember if it was on the test. 

"How long?" Derek asked. 

Stiles looked at the timer he had going. "An hour until I need to head to the class."

"Then take a nap. I've got a book here I can entertain myself with. I could do with the breather as well."

Stiles closed his eyes and smiled as Derek tangled his hand in Stiles' hair to kind of pet him. Stiles dropped off into full sleep before he knew what was going on. 

"Hey, wake up," Derek said as he shook Stiles' shoulder and gently woke him up. 

"I feel a lot better," Stiles said as he got fully awake. Derek was smiling down at him as he said. 

"Well, unless I can't, you can use me as a pillow any time."

"I might take you up on that." Stiles stretched a little before he attempted sitting up. The quad was a little busier, and Stiles saw that no one was really looking at them. He was glad of it. It wasn't all that strange to see couples together all the time, but there was something about same-sex couples that still got a few eyes from other people. He laughed as he saw a guy running across the quad.

"What's up with him?"

"He's always late to the first class after he had a lunch break. It's pretty normal to see him running like that." Stiles grabbed his stuff and started to pack it up and smiled as there were a few bites of the sweet potato roll, and he snagged them and ate them. He kissed Derek on the lips. "See you at home tonight." 

"Bye," Derek said with a grin on his face. 

Stiles didn't rush to his next class. It seemed that Derek had woke him up early, and his alarm went off when he was halfway to class. Stiles stopped by the coffee cart and got an iced chai tea so that he could have something to drink during class. The professor didn't mind them having drinks in there as so far no one had spilled any other than a little water once when someone bumped into someone else while they were trying to put the lid on their water. Stiles saw the class before wasn't out yet, so he settled on the bench across from the doors and waited. 

When the test was done, Stiles handed it in and waited for the professor to look up at him, where he was checking over the tests from the one before. He smiled at his professor and slipped out with a jaunty wave at a few people that looked up at him. He looked at the time to see that he had finished in under half of the time. He headed toward the coffee cart and grabbed a donut they had that Derek loved. Derek still had one class, and he was in the middle of it. So Stiles camped out in front of the class and read on the newest book he had Peter bring him up when he came for a visit. The three elder Hales rotated on who came to visit at least every other week. 

Stiles laid the book over his bent legs and relaxed as he read about werewolf relationships. It was a book that had a collection of various ways that different kinds of shifters were different. It had been a present for him from Tarn, and Stiles was enjoying it. 

He was halfway through the chapter when a heading caught his eye. Courting. Werewolf courting. Stiles looked up at the doors and frowned before he looked back down. He read over all of it and then went back again. He was going to kick Derek's fucking ass. Derek had been courting him for years. Since he turned fifteen. He read over the one section again that pertained to Mates that were underage when met, and it was all laid out perfectly. Peter didn't have this book in the Hale library, so Stiles wasn't going to get upset at him for not slipping it to him. It was quite strange that he wouldn't unless Peter was hiding it from him. 

The doors opened up from the classroom, and Stiles stood up, snagging his back and keeping the book tucked under his arm. Derek didn't come out with the rest of the med students, so when the tide had stopped, Stiles slipped down into the classroom. Derek was talking to the professor, and it only took a few seconds for Stiles to realize that she was hitting on him, but Derek was closed off to her. He didn't let her touch him, and he wasn't looking anywhere but at her face, despite her breasts being well on display. She looked like she was around Derek's age, maybe a few years older.

"Can I help you?" the professor asked as she looked at Stiles like she was pissed off for being interrupted.

"He's waiting for me. We have a date planned," Derek said. 

"I didn't realize you were into younger people."

"Known him since we were younger. Kind of fell in love as we grew up together. I'll make sure to check about my scheduling for that seminar and get back to you before the next term starts." Derek turned away from the professor and walked up, snagging Stiles and wrapping his arm around his shoulders before leading him out of the classroom. "I'm so fucking happy this is the last class I will ever have with her. She's one of the ones who failed to pass her final test for exit and then started to teach after getting a teaching degree. She's never done anything with me other than that statement there about my personal life, but she hits on me and a few others. Once tests are graded, and everything is finalized, we are getting together and taking it up with our advisor. We all have the same. If I get less than what I think I should have on that exam, there will be issues."

"I've heard you talking about a little with Cora and a few times with me. I didn't realize that she was the one who was hitting on your though. She's kind of hot, but yeah, I couldn't ever see myself dating a professor in my sets of classes."

"No, you wouldn't." Derek pressed a kiss to his forehead. "What do you wanna do since we are both free, and we aren't heading home until the weekend?"

"I wanna talk about when you were going to tell me you are courting me," Stiles said. 

"Well, I kind of hoped you had noticed just never brought it up."

"No, there are no books in the Hale library about courting."

"Really? There was before. It was a book that laid out a lot of shifters. Peter dated a werecoyote for a while when she lived here when he was in high school. She was a little weird, but once you got used to her, everything was good. I remember reading that when I was younger. I wonder what happened to it." 

"Don't know. I could see Peter taking it out so that I couldn't find and seeing the fallout. He's a dick."

Derek laughed. He looked around the area of campus they were in before pushing Stiles into the wall and kissing him. Derek didn't do big public displays of affection like that. Stiles stuffed his hands into Derek's pockets to keep him close. They didn't go too hot and heavy, just something fun. 

"Let's go home," Stiles said when Derek finally pulled back but not before he rubbed his nose over Stiles' pulse point and then his cheek over Stiles'. Scenting was something that Stiles was getting used to. The Pack usually used their hands, but Derek would use his nose and cheeks more than anything. Stiles loved it, though, as he had learned who was supernatural that he went to class with after the first time that Derek had scented him before he had gone to class in a new way. 

"Yes, let's." 

* * *

"On my Gods!" Cora yelled from down the hall. 

"CORA!" Talia yelled.

"It smells!"

"Get the odor stuff then. Don't scream," Peter yelled next. 

"They-" Cora cut off, and Stiles assumed that someone had shut her up. 

Stiles tucked his face down into the bed and laughed as Derek radiated smugness behind him. 

Derek was smug as hell and had been since they had headed home right after the last exam of Cora's. Since they had plenty of stuff at home, no one needed to pack anything clothes related, just school stuff they wanted to work on in prep of the next term. Stiles had all of his reading materials with him, and Derek had more than him with everything that he felt he lacked on.

"She is going to make faces at all us all day because showering does not get rid of the scent of sex," Derek said.

"Yeah, I know. I remember the face that Cora made after Laura and Mark were here that one time. It's not like I care. She can't burst my bubble."

Derek laughed and kissed the back of his neck. His hand skirted down Stiles' body but stopped on his belly. Stiles was too sore, and Derek knew it. While they hadn't exactly gone all night, they had woke up a few times. Only once had been penetration, but the rest had been just frottage and one really good time of Derek going down on him. Tonight they planned to let Stiles take the reins since he was new to sex. Derek had a few hookups in pre-med school, and Stiles really didn't care about that. He had been underage, and Derek would never touch him. He wasn't going to be upset about that. Though it explained why no one had been pushing Derek to date like they kind of did with Cora. 

Stiles still grinned at the date that Derek had taken him on the night before. He had been super adorable and then had taken Stiles straight up to his room. It explained why Derek had never let them get too far before this. Derek had some big romantic notion of that happening for the first time in his childhood bedroom, where they had hung out so many times before, where the scent of them was ingrained into everything and the smell of Pack.

"You are the one who has to live with them the rest o the school year," Spencer cackled as he rushed down the hall. 

"And you'll be living with us before long! You'll be in a room they have sex in!" Cora yelled back.

Spencer just started to laugh. "I'm human, I won't smell that!"

Cora growled, and then the sound of her running after Spencer was heard. Even Stiles heard the front door slam shut, and then it did it again ten seconds later as Cora chased him into the Preserve."

"So that's the plan, huh? Not me and Spencer sharing but me moving out of that room and into yours?" Stiles asked. 

"That's the plan for when you are ready. There is no rush on that. It could be literally the day we move Spencer in, or you could stay with him. I don't care."

"I'll let you know, and I know, no pressure. You are good on the no pressure though I was afraid I would have to get into your bedroom and stripe naked to get you to sex me up. I liked this, though. This was good. It was in this room that I developed a crush on you, playing on the Wii and such."

Derek nuzzled at Stiles' neck for a minute, leaving what was sure to be beard burn there though that just matched parts of the rest of his body. He liked it, though. Even if he was going to get hell for his neck. 

"A few more minutes here, and then we can get up and shower."

"Together?" Derek asked.

"Of course. I'm gonna wanna join you in the shower a hell of a lot more after this, even if no sex happens. I can touch, and touching wet skin is so much better."

"Well, if you are good, I might go down on you in the shower, and maybe you can return the favor?"

"Sure." Stiles closed his eyes again, and Derek pulled the blanket over them. It felt damned good to be like that. He was happier than he had been in a long time.

# The End

**Author's Note:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to stress over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story!
> 
> I can be found on MeWe [here](https://mewe.com/i/beccaqueen1), join me there and we can discuss my fics and whatnot.


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